Tomorrow this novel will officially be my longest novel attempt. I put in another 1,191 words, but it’s not progressing as quickly as I’d like. Blah blah blah boo hoo is it really going to be as awesome on paper as it is on my mind what if it doesn’t go anywhere blah blah blah. I’m going to finish it and I really don’t need to worry about anything other than that.
Except for this: English 318, the sci fi novel writing class with Brandon Sanderson is starting in two days. What if I have to start a new novel in that class from the beginning?
Well, I’ve been wondering about that for a little bit, and being the realist that I am, I’ve been coming up with an idea for another novel. Not that I want to create a double sized workload for myself this semester (because no matter what, I WILL finish The Lost Colony), but it’s always good to have a contingency plan.
I was thinking as I was reading Neuromancer about what space colonization is going to look like in the near future. The space program of the US has really died down a lot since we put a man on the moon, and everything coming from government seems to be plodding along at a snail’s pace. For that reason, the next wave of human expansion into space will probably be fueled as much by tourism and business as by the government.
But that raises a question: if the multinational corporations get out there first, what kind of power are the governments going to have out there? What is the socio-political landscape going to be like in a network of communities primarily governed by a board of directors instead of a legislature?
It’s not like it hasn’t happened before. Not at all. When the British first came to America, it was the companies and corporations that called all the shots. In Jamestown, they planted so much tobacco that the local citizens were starving to death! The returns from the tobacco were economically greater than the loss of the farmers. Crazy!
So, with those thoughts, I wondered what it would be like to be an explorer during this time. Or perhaps a smuggler. It seems that there are tons of stories about explorers and smugglers, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a fun story.
And then I was wondering, what if one of these corporate colonies rebelled? And the corporation tried to cover it up, because if news got out about the way they were treating their colonists, they would be faced with sanctions and boycotts.
So then, this explorer/smuggler/whatever dude meets the colonists and gets to know some of them, and they convince him to make a run for Earth with some of the colony leaders so that they can bring news of what’s really happening.
It’s not too much, but it’s a start. If I need to start a new novel, at least I have the beginnings of an idea.
And now I’m so tired that I’m about to collapse. And I have to do homework tomorrow morning.
